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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26340052">Snapshot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chellacat/pseuds/Chellacat'>Chellacat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:20:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26340052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chellacat/pseuds/Chellacat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots and the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick. It even makes me rhyme. I hate it- I hate the way you’re always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh; even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you’re not around, and the fact that you didn’t call, but mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you; not even close; not even a little bit; not even at all.”</p>
<p>This was my prompt for @littledarlinhavefaithinme 10 Things Challenge on Tumblr</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>158</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Snapshot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I hate you!”</p>
<p>“No, you don’t”</p>
<p>“Yes, I do….”</p>
<p>Bucky slides out from under the counter, pulling his hair back and snapping the elastic around it.  Darcy stands in the doorway, hands on hips and silently fuming.</p>
<p>“Fine, why do you hate me today Doll?”  He drawls it out, Brooklyn accent thickening as he cocks a brow and gives her a slow grin as he prowls closer to her.</p>
<p>Darcy bites her lip trying to stop the smile from forming, fuck it makes her knees weak when he looks at her like that.</p>
<p>“That, right there, that is why.”</p>
<p>Bucky frowns, consternation clear on his face.</p>
<p>“What?  What did I do?” He reaches out and catches her wrist, tugging her playfully till she falls against his chest.</p>
<p>“Don’t talk to me like that!” She uses the now close proximity to poke his chest ineffectually with one pointed finger.</p>
<p>“Like what?” Bucky rubs his nose to hers before dipping and stealing a fast hard kiss that makes her moan low in her throat, her whole body now molding itself to his.</p>
<p>“Like you know what I look like naked, damn it!” She pushes away from him as he chuckles into her mouth and he lets her go with a reluctant sigh.</p>
<p>Darcy stomps off, cursing under her breath, Bucky is left feeling slightly confused.  To be fair he often feels confused, especially since he started hooking up with Darcy. </p>
<p>He watches her go, hips swaying and licks his lips…  he does know what she looks like naked, like a god damn fantasy. He’s determined she’ll give in eventually, let him take her out, date her, do things the right way. He knows she’s everything he ever wanted, but he also knows she’s wary of relationships, scared that if she falls for him he’ll just be another one of the jerks who used her and cast her aside when they were done. It drives him crazy the anyone has used her like that because she’s perfect to him in every way.</p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p>Bucky steps off the elevator running vibrainium fingers through his hair, it’s shorter than he’s had it since ‘45.  It was strange watching the last of the Winter Soldier fall away as Natalia cut it this morning, like he was shedding his old life, or maybe even reclaiming his first. </p>
<p>He holds a tray of coffee in his free hand as he searches the labs for Darcy.  It takes him longer than usual to find her, getting stopped by a half dozen people, most of them staring and smiling at him and trying to flirt, at least till they suddenly seemed to realize who they had come onto, then they’d make excuses to get away. </p>
<p>Darcy finds him before he finds her, the sound of her heels clicking purposefully have him turning to greet her.  He’d know that Staccato rhythm anywhere, she walked with a purpose and vitality that exuded confidence, he’s come to appreciate that little twist of heel in her step, it makes him smile just hearing it. She stops in front of him, scowling.</p>
<p>“I hate you!”</p>
<p>“Doll, you wound me,” he brings a hand to his heart, “I brought you coffee.”</p>
<p>He turns on that old Barnes charm and offers her the tray. The way she eyed him actually had him a little unnerved for a moment and he wants to fidget, she always makes him feel this way, like he’s some bug under a microscope being assessed and judged, but she’s been looking more and more confused with each meeting, like she doesn’t understand why the other shoe hasn’t dropped yet, doesn’t get why he keeps coming back no matter how much she pushes him away.</p>
<p>He smiles anyway, tilts his head, taking in the pretty picture she makes in her black dress, it’s all business today which means she’s got meetings with some of the department heads. His girl practically runs the R&amp;D department, there’s not a project she doesn’t oversee and secure funding for and the scientists love having her around, the place would be a mess without her.</p>
<p>Darcy grabs the coffee and glares half-heartedly, red lips pursed, watching as he runs his hand nervously through his hair again.  She makes a choked noise and bites her lip.</p>
<p>He kept coming back, kept chasing her, she doesn’t understand why, he’s had her, multiple times, it seemed he’d spring up out of nowhere regularly and it wasn’t just for sex.</p>
<p>He kept bringing her flowers and chocolate and… fuck, he always seemed more interested in making her cum than taking care of himself. If she wasn’t careful she’d get her heart broken. She’d been through this too many times before, men always got bored of her, they only wanted her for sex and she’d come to accept that.</p>
<p>She enjoyed sex, I mean why shouldn’t she? It didn’t have to mean anything and sex with Bucky was insanely good, like, ruined her for all other men good.</p>
<p>Then there was the fact that he wanted to talk to her, listen to what she had to say and would laugh at her stories, always asking for more, it made her nervous. He was slowly turning her world upside down with his sincerity, but he seemed determined to wear her down, to convince her to him a chance… maybe it’s time to stop running.</p>
<p>“You cut your hair.”  She stated, shooting a nasty look at Pearl from accounting who sidles past, winking at Bucky as she goes. Darcy reigns in the urge to slap her or make some snippy comment about taking a picture and refocused on Bucky as he shot her a smug smile, damnit. He seemed to know what she was thinking.</p>
<p>“Yeah…  Felt like I needed a change.”</p>
<p>“I hate it.” She sounds less certain this time, eyes filling with heat as she really takes in the change. Jesus Christ, he looked hot. All she wanted to do was run her hands through it, maybe give it a hard tug while his mouth was between her legs. She closes her eyes briefly and tries to think of something else.</p>
<p>“You hate my hair sweetheart?” </p>
<p>He knows she doesn’t. Sees the way she curls her tiny fists as though holding back from something.</p>
<p>Darcy rolls her eyes and shakes her head, there was no way she was going to let him see that he was finally getting to her. He has that self-satisfied smirk in place like he thinks he’s won something.</p>
<p>“Did you have to cut it like that?”</p>
<p>“Like what?”</p>
<p>“Like you just dropped out of a GQ cover shoot, no one is getting any work done, they’re all too busy staring at you.”</p>
<p>Bucky’s lips lift into a crooked grin, she looks cute when she’s flustered, he can see her resisting the urge to run her own fingers through the new cut.</p>
<p>“Here,” He digs in his pocket and brings out a pack of peanut buttercups, holding them just out of reach.</p>
<p>Darcy swears and reaches for them, he holds then above her, teasing her with her favorite treat.</p>
<p>“Bucky!”</p>
<p>“Thought you hated me Doll…”</p>
<p>“Give me the god damn candy Barnes.”</p>
<p>“Give your best guy some sugar, sugar,”</p>
<p>Darcy presses her lips together, stifling a giggle from the cheeky smile he gives her and stands on tiptoe, kissing his lip’s quickly. He grins like he just won a prize and drops the treat into her hand, enjoying the childish glee which suffuses her expression. He grabs her hand in his and she follows along beside him right up until he suddenly scoops her up and tucks them both out of sight inside a supply closet.</p>
<p>Twenty minutes later a disheveled Darcy emerges from the closet, her shirt askew and her hair loose from the bun she’s had it swept into earlier. Bucky follows her out, catching her arm and pulling her back in to steal a soft heady kiss before letting her go again.</p>
<p>“Dinner.” Its a demand, not a question.</p>
<p>Darcy bites her lip, eyes bright and finally, after two months of trying to convince her he was serious about them, she nods her head.</p>
<p>“Saturday night, pick me up at seven.”</p>
<p>Bucky whoops and swings her up not caring a bit that half the techs in the labs were staring at them.</p>
<p>He’s got it, a proper date, he’ll plan the whole thing out. He wants to show her how special she is, that he’s not dating her on a whim or to satisfy some carnal itch, she makes him giddy, the way she smiles, how much she cares, she makes him laugh, to him, she’s everything.</p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p>“Jesus Bucky!  Not so hard!”</p>
<p>“This damn car’s older than I am.”  he gripes, foot pressed to the floor as he wrenches the wheel again, taking them round a corner at speeds Darcy could have lived without.</p>
<p>“I hate you!  I am never letting you drive my car again!”</p>
<p>“I love you too Sweetheart, now pass me my gun and hold the wheel.”</p>
<p>Darcy shrieks as the hail of gunfire strikes the back window and does as she’s told.  Worst first date ever!</p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p>“Would you stop that?”</p>
<p>“Stop what?”</p>
<p>“Staring at me.”</p>
<p>His shoulders rise nearly to his ears as he shrugs uncomfortably and looks away.  The tiny confines of the jet make it hard to put any space between them, which is what Darcy had been trying to do since their clusterfuck of a date two weeks ago.  Every time she got him cornered he ran, he couldn’t now though.</p>
<p>Eyes cast down again she pretends to read her book.  He’d ignored her trying to talk to him when they first boarded, she’d given up trying an hour later when it seemed all she was going to get were noncommittal grunts.</p>
<p>This time only ten minutes pass before she feels the weight of his eyes on her again.</p>
<p>“What?”  The demanding tone ricochets in the tiny compartment like shrapnel.</p>
<p>Blue on blue caught stubbornly as his mouth tightens in a thin line.</p>
<p>“Nothing.”  He finally mutters, looking away, fingers tapping aggravatedly on his thigh.</p>
<p>Darcy slams the book closed and leans forward.</p>
<p>“I-”</p>
<p>“Hate me, I know, I finally got the memo doll.”</p>
<p>“Oh don’t try that bullshit with me, Barnes, seriously, what is your fucking problem?  So what if the date went badly?  You’ve not spoken to me since you left me in medical.”</p>
<p>“You nearly got killed!”</p>
<p>“I know!  I was there!”</p>
<p>“Than why are you trying to talk to me?”</p>
<p>“Because all you’ve done for two weeks is make puppy eyes and run every time I track you down!”</p>
<p>“I nearly got you killed Darce…  I didn’t know what to say.”</p>
<p>Darcy rolls her eyes hard and leans over, pointed finger once again poking his chest.</p>
<p>“You say, let’s try that again Darcy, this time without the kidnapping and murder grenades.”</p>
<p>The look of confused surprise is adorable.</p>
<p>“You’d still want to go on a date after we got shot at?”</p>
<p>Darcy throws her hands up and leans back, crossing her arms.</p>
<p>Silence reigns in the compartment, heavy with unspoken words.</p>
<p>“Darce?”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Pick you up at 7 on Friday?”</p>
<p>Darcy’s brow arches, her arms falling as she sighs.</p>
<p>“I hate you.”</p>
<p>“It’s a date.”  he grins before tugging her out of her seat and into his strong arms.  Darcy yelps as she’s moved to straddle hard thighs, her heart racing already in anticipation of what was coming next…namely her.  She smiles as his mouth covers her in a playful teasing kiss and melting into his hold wraps her arms around his neck, relieved to be back where she belonged.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s always in her apartment, it feels likes he’s all but moved in permanently.  His books sit on the coffee table, a gun safe takes up a previously empty space under the kitchen counter, there are numerous knick-knacks from around the world he somehow has time to pick up from whatever mission he’s been on recently, littering the surfaces. </p>
<p>Darcy throws off her jacket and kicks her shoes off, wandering down the hallway to the bedroom.  Just as she enters the room she finds herself suddenly tripping, gravity catching her and hauling her down. </p>
<p>“Easy sweetheart, I gotcha.”  She’s caught by a warm, wet wall of muscle, her momentum now pressing every inch of her to him.</p>
<p>“Christ on a cracker Bucky, what the hell…” looking down she spies the combat boots that have been left loitering in the entryway to the room.  Where on earth had he come from?</p>
<p>“I didn’t think you’d be home yet doll.”  She takes in the damp hair and naked chest, beads of water still clinging to skin.</p>
<p>“Seriously? Are you trying to kill me?”</p>
<p>“Sorry doll, forgive me?”</p>
<p>A long-suffering sigh escapes her, she’s too tired to tell him off for leaving his boots lying around.</p>
<p>“One condition-”</p>
<p>Before she can complete her demand he produces a bar of chocolate, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he lets her go.</p>
<p>“Okay and I-”</p>
<p>A glass of wine is pressed into her hand like magic.  Darcy squints at his all too innocent expression, mouth opening to-</p>
<p>“’m not a mind reader, just know what my girl needs after a long day.”</p>
<p>“I hate you.” she replies without any ire.</p>
<p>Bucky smirks.</p>
<p>“Love you too Doll.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                                                                    </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She’s never going to live this down, he’s told her a dozen times not to leave without her tracker, telling her she’d get her ass kidnapped.. again.  God, she hates it when he’s right.</p>
<p>The cell is dimly lit, but oddly comfortable considering she’s been kidnapped by what she assumes is probably some previously thought defunct offshoot of Hydra.</p>
<p>Six hours later when the sounds of fighting break out and the thick steel door swings open she’s too thankful to say it out loud.</p>
<p>Bucky strides through the door, murder etched on his face and scoops her up without a word.  Darcy just clings to him, thankful to wait for the lecture on personal safety till later.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He told her he was away on a mission. It’s why when she spots him, she decides to follow him.  He’s meant to be in Egypt, not New York.</p>
<p>He loses her on 5th Avenue and she mutters angrily all the way back to the Tower. </p>
<p>When he appears the next morning she pretends like nothing happened, like she hadn’t seen him in the city and he acts like he hadn’t lied to her about it. </p>
<p>Silently she begins to count down the days till his things will surely disappear from her apartment before it’s only him left, the last thing to leave. </p>
<p>Darcy distracts herself with work and Jane and corralling her merry bunch of mad scientists, putting off the inevitable. </p>
<p>She’s going to enjoy whatever time they have left.  In the deepest part of her she cries and tries very hard to hate him for the lies.  She thought he was different, she thought he was the one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bucky pats his pocket for the fifth time and fidgets in his seat.  The restaurant is half empty and the table service has been terrible.  But it’s the place he’d first met her, although he’s not sure she remembers as they dither over ordering dessert or heading home to raid the freezer for ice cream.</p>
<p>“Have we been here before?”</p>
<p>The sudden question snaps him out of his reverie and he glances across the table.  She’s been subdued lately, but he hasn’t been able to figure out why.</p>
<p>“I was wondering if you’d remember.”</p>
<p>“Remember what?”</p>
<p>“First time I saw you.  I was having lunch here with Steve and Stark.  You blazed in and threw Starks drink in his lap.”</p>
<p>She tilts her head quizzically.</p>
<p>“This is where…  I don’t even remember you being here.”</p>
<p>“We weren’t introduced till the week after, you stormed right back out again after making him sign some papers.”</p>
<p>“Oh..”  Her bottom lip is caught between a flash of white as he rubs his palms over the sides of his thighs.  When she looks away he stands, coming round the table, dropping to one knee.</p>
<p>“Darcy…”</p>
<p>She turns back, eyes widening at his new position and location.</p>
<p>When he reaches into his pocket for the ring she gasps, one hand covering her mouth and the other gripping the tabletop.</p>
<p>With the worst possible timing, a passing waiter trips over Bucky’s foot, sending himself and a tray of food crashing to the ground, leaving Bucky kneeling there, covered in carbonara, mouth half open and a blue velvet ring box in his hand.</p>
<p>He gapes, horrified by the turn of events then closes his eyes.  When he opens them again it’s to the sound and the sight of his girl giggling helplessly, head shaking as she laughs. </p>
<p>“Omg, your face… baby…  oh my god were you going to propose?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean were, sweet cheeks, this is it, this is my life. I swear to god my Ma must be watching this from heaven and having a fit.  My life’s a disaster Darce, but you make everything better. I don’t want to do it without you.  Even if it means getting coffee for breakfast and ice cream for dinner for the next sixty years.  Marry me, Darcy, make me the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.”</p>
<p>She nods her head, still laughing, tears streaming down her face while he struggles to fit the ring on her finger.</p>
<p>“It’s beautiful Buck… when did you even have time to buy it?”</p>
<p>“Took a day a few weeks ago instead of taking the op in Egypt.  Spend it scouring every jewelry store in Manhatten.”</p>
<p>The ring is new, but the design is old.  A princess-cut diamond flanked by garnet petals sparkles in her finger.</p>
<p>A curious expression drifts across her face at his answer and she bites her lip hard before swooping forward and kissing him.</p>
<p>“I hate you,” she whispers lovingly into his mouth.</p>
<p>Warmth spreads in his chest.</p>
<p>“Gonna need you to do that for the rest of my life Doll.”</p>
<p>“Not gonna be a problem soldier.”</p>
<p>They pay and go home to eat ice cream.  A long hot shower later they fall asleep on the couch where they were cuddled up reading to each other. Bucky snuggles her close and throws a blanket over them, thanking every deity he can name for giving him a second chance and her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The phone is clutched tightly in her hand, the shape of it indented in her skin.  Three days, five hours…  That’s how long she’s been waiting for him to call and tell her he’s okay, that he’s holed up in some safe house or podunk hospital with no internet or cell service.  She taps the glass, checking her call history before swiping and rechecking that the settings are right, the ringer’s on, she’s not on silent or do not disturb…  Grabbing the wire beside her she plugs the phone in to charge, again.  How many times had she done that now? </p>
<p>The phone rings, some telemarketer, she declines the call, furious that it isn’t him, that it might have stopped <em>his</em> call from connecting. </p>
<p>Running her hands through her hair she gathers it up, snapping one of Bucky’s hair ties around it in a sloppy bun. </p>
<p>The quiet of the apartment is getting to her. She stares out the window, watching the silent rush of life sixty stories below.  It doesn’t make sense, how can everything look so normal, how can everyone else still be moving, living?</p>
<p>Cold cups of coffee are scattered around the apartment, keeping company with the small momentoes of their life.  The book he’d been reading to her before he left, her socks left under the coffee table where he’d thrown them after he’d peeled them off her feet, intent on stripping her bare before he’d fucked her into the couch the night before he left.  Her bag and shoes left at the door beside his combat boots, the ones he kept for weekends when he drove his bike upstate, her perched behind him, arms tight and body pressed into the soft leather of the jacket that hung on the peg beside her fluffy cardigan and the Gryfindor scarf she’d knitted for him last Christmas. He was everywhere, in every corner of her life, every crack and crevice, he’d wormed his way in, inch by subtle inch until she couldn’t remember what it felt like before she’d known him. </p>
<p>The soft wrap of knuckles on wood has her spring from the armchair.  Opening the door the pale face of Natasha Romanoff stares back.  Darcy steps back, silently allowing the women to come in. </p>
<p>“Why don’t we sit.”  She’s never heard Natasha so quietly calm before.  The other woman is usually three parts snark one part sincerity.  Arms crossed, Darcy stands her ground, shaking her head. </p>
<p>“Where is he, Natasha?”</p>
<p>The widow tries to place a comforting hand on her arm but she angrily shrugs it away.</p>
<p>“He’s gone Darce…”</p>
<p>She whips round to see Steve framed in the doorway.  He looks wrecked, face bruised and bloodied.  It’s the way he looks at her, his eyes full of silent sorrow and apology that makes her prickle.</p>
<p>“No.”  Darcy doesn’t know if she’s denying the words or refusing to accept what he’s saying without speaking, but she shakes her head, futilely repressing the welling panic and grief threatening to overwhelm her.</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry.”</p>
<p>“No,” she snaps, “you don’t get to say that.  He’s not dead.”</p>
<p>“The building was blown up Darcy.  The whole thing collapsed and the fires were raging for over twelve hours…  Even Bucky couldn’t survive that.  We looked for him, no one saw him get out before it went up.  There are no reports of anyone matching his description in any of the medical facilities within a hundred miles of the explosion.  It’s been three days.”</p>
<p>Steve’s begging her to understand but what her heart tells her is that she can not give up on him.  Not yet, not ever. </p>
<p>Bucky promised he’d come back. He’s never broken a promise to her, he’s not going to start now.</p>
<p>“He’ll come back.  He always does.”  The finality of the statement ends the discussion and both level sympathetic glances at her which she pointedly ignores.</p>
<p>They leave her alone, the apartment door closing quietly as she finally lets her knees fall out from under her.  Bone wrenching sobs burst forth from her lips as her body heaves out her worry and grief. </p>
<p>“I hate you…  I hate you so much right now…  I hate how much I love you.  You have to come back to me so I can tell you that…”</p>
<p>Whispered words of loss fall around her like ash.  She hates it.  She hates how alone she feels.  Hates that he made her need him.  Hates that when he’s not around it feels as though her world is falling apart. The engagement ring winks mockingly from her finger.  A promise of a life together.  He has to come home, he just has to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>                                                                     </p>
<p> </p>
<h2>~Six Weeks Later~</h2>
<p>“I love you.”</p>
<p>Words spoken into heated skin as pre-dawn light suffuses their bedroom.</p>
<p>He came back, he’s all around her, every inch of him pressing into her.  The affirming sounds of harsh breath, low moans, the symphony of skin against skin as his body slides over hers, fills her with warmth, relief, happiness. </p>
<p>His hips, safely cradled in hers, his cock buried deep in the tight, silky heat of her leaves him undone and yet complete, grounded, he’s home. </p>
<p>It’s slow, drawn out.  They make love with each touch and kiss, breath life back into each other with each joining of their bodies. </p>
<p>Climax closes in for them both, her back arching further, meeting the increased pace of his thrusts as she clings tightly to his shoulders.</p>
<p>His body tenses as the tingling feeling creeps up his spine but he holds back, waiting… When he feels her finally begin to cum, he lets go, her walls clamping around him like a vice as he pounds faster, his hands gripping her ass so he can push deeper and then it hits, not a breath of space between them, bodies shaking and moving through it, his pelvic bone pressed hard on her clit as she gasps his name, her legs tightening around his waist, keeping him locked in place, he couldn’t get away if he wanted to, she was so tightly wrapped around him.  He empties himself inside her, filling her up, some primal satisfaction that she’s full with his seed, that the scent of him will cling to her for days.</p>
<p>The scent of sex and satisfaction lies heavy in the air.</p>
<p>They lie there as the sun rises, bodies replete and at rest as the light slowly fills the room.</p>
<p>“I love you.”  She says it again and he kisses her softly, slowly, burning the memory into both their minds.</p>
<p>“You don’t hate me anymore?”  He asks her lightly and she rolls her eyes, sighing.</p>
<p>“ I hate the way I don’t hate you; not even close; not even a little bit; not even at all, because I never hated you.  I hated that I fell in love so fast.”</p>
<p>“I loved you from the minute I saw you, doll, I’m never going to leave you again, I promise.”</p>
<p>She runs a hand through his hair gently, taking in the sincerity in his eyes.</p>
<p>“You can’t promise that.”</p>
<p>He shushes her with another kiss.</p>
<p>“I told Steve I quit.  No more active duty.”</p>
<p>“Are you serious?”</p>
<p>“Completely.”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>“Can’t risk it, not anymore, not when I’ve got you.”</p>
<p>“I’d never ask you to-”</p>
<p>“I know, it’s why I’m doing it.  You deserve to be happy and so do I.”</p>
<p>She’s speechless, but it doesn’t matter, all that does is that she’s not going to lose him again.</p>
<p>“Besides, someone has to keep an eye on you.  You might take over the world if I didn’t. My tiny megalomaniac.”  He teases.</p>
<p>Darcy blushes hotly.  He’s mostly teasing she decides after a moment, after all, she’d taken everyone out of her way to keep the search for him going, even against all the evidence.  If she hadn’t he’d still be rotting inside some Hydra prison cell. </p>
<p>His eyes crinkle with mirth as he rests his forehead on hers and she wrinkles her nose.</p>
<p>“I hate you.” </p>
<p>The End.</p>
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